"This will be my last season playing the part of Rick Grimes," Lincoln informed a dismayed audience. "I love this show, it means everything to me," he said. "This has been the most extraordinary, amazing, and beautiful experience of my career."

"I suppose what I wanted to say is, my relationship with Mr. Grimes is far from over, and a sort of large part of me will always be a machete-wielding, Stetson-wearing, zombie-slaying sheriff’s deputy from London, England," he said, referring to his home country.